Rooney assault claim withdrawn

A student who said he'd been assaulted by England striker Wayne Rooney has withdrawn his claims, police said.

A student who said he'd been assaulted by England striker Wayne Rooney has withdrawn his claims, police said.

Police launched an investigation into allegations that the Manchester United forward assaulted Patrick Hanrahan, 22, in the early hours of March 22 after the student taunted him in Manchester's Tiger Tiger nightclub.

Hanrahan made a formal complaint against Rooney, after telling his story in The Sun tabloid, Britain's biggest-selling daily newspaper, 16 hours after the alleged incident.

But Greater Manchester Police said Hanrahan had withdrawn his allegation and they would not be pursuing the matter.

A force spokeswoman said: "We were informed that the complainant did not want to pursue the allegation.

"We took a retraction statement from him and officers will not be pursuing the matter any further."

Rooney, 19, who moved from Everton to United in a pre-season move worth some 27 million pounds, was due to play for England later Wednesday in their World Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan at Newcastle's St James' Park.